Not Applicable
Pasteurizers used in the brewing industry include large enclosures or tunnels measuring up to 20 feet wide by 100 feet long. Modular belting is used to carry glass bottles or containers of liquid to be pasteurized through the tunnel. Water is sprayed onto the bottles as they move through the tunnel to control the temperatures of the product. The tunnel includes a number of temperature zones such that the temperature of the product in the bottles is raised to the pasteurization temperature, maintained at that temperature for a predetermined time, and then reduced to room temperature.
Problems arise in the pasteurizers due to bottle breakage caused by poor glass quality and/or temperature swings as the bottles are moved through the pasteurizer heating zones on the modular conveyor belt. Broken glass is hard and abrasive, and can lead to the destruction and wear of the plastic modular belt. The broken glass particles work their way through the drainage holes in the modular belting. The glass particles build up on the conveyor belt drive sprockets and become embedded in the teeth of the drive sprockets as the chain articulates over the sprockets. Severe build up of the glass particles on the sprockets leads to improper engagement of the chain with the sprockets, and this can cause the belt to jump teeth on the sprocket, poor tracking of the modular belt, and even catastrophic damage to the modular belting. An additional problem caused by the broken glass is excessive wear of the sprockets and belt modules.
The invention provides an improved sprocket design for use with modular belting and particularly modular belting of the type used in pasteurizers to convey containers through the pasteurizer. The sprocket includes a base having an outer periphery rotatable about an axis, and a plurality of teeth extending radially from the outer periphery. At least one tooth includes a drive surface for engaging the module drive surface, and a top having a portion sloping away from the drive surface toward the base. Tooth sides extend from said top and toward said base.
A general objective of the present invention is to reduce the likelihood of trapping particles between the teeth and belt module, thus eliminating the build up of abrasive media between the two components. This is accomplished by providing a tooth profile which engages the module to drive the belt, and to space the belt from the sprocket body.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tooth profile which guides particles away from the module when engaged by the teeth. This objective is accomplished by providing surfaces on the tooth which do not engage the module and guide the particles away from the module.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a sprocket which can collect particles between the teeth without adversely affecting sprocket performance. This objective is accomplished by providing a sprocket having relief areas formed between the sprocket teeth to collect particles falling from the belt module.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of the invention.